“Against all odds, a seed rises from darkness and beautifies the universe.”
~ Matshona Dhliwayo
These words…these are my hope. As of Friday, we were still very cold in the 30s and 20s with daily snow and snow on the ground from time to time. I was so confused when I went for my walk that I thought it might be late November or February…even early March. But not April, certainly not April.
I have lost at least 3 weeks of spring…3 weeks in my garden….3 weeks of starting my veg garden. It is hard not to feel deep melancholy. I just want it to warm up….to let the flowers open that are ready….to let the critters build their nests and get on with their lives. We have all been held hostage in this eternal winter.
And I couldn’t get past these dark musings about the spring that should be here…that will come surely, but when? And I was tired of trying ‘to make the best of it.’
I know I can’t change the weather. And after all the birds are still singing. Even the spring peeper frogs are singing in the pond in the wild area. Every cold night the pond does not freeze, I hear their chorus, and am reminded that yes it is spring despite this lousy weather.
But you know, this cold, ridiculous, horrid weather has taught me something again about letting go….about my resilience, and even my shadow self. My happiness, my mood is controlled by me. I can wallow in self-pity and gloom, or I can choose to let go of the fact that this should be spring….this would be spring if only. Instead I am latching on to the fact that it could be spring, if I let it be.
And with that, the weather has begun to actually warm, and the forecast is for warmer days and nights. So I am moving on too…..to getting my garden started….cleaning, clearing, planting!
The one bright ray of hope in my cold days has been the seedlings growing bigger and bigger….waiting, with me, to be planted out. Look at these coleus. They are getting huge.
And my peppers (above) along with eggplant, other veggies, flowers and herbs are making great progress. Tomatoes were started this weekend indoors along with sunflowers.
Here are my pansies looking perfect. I will be planting them in containers this week.
Along with these snapdragons, many are already blooming under the lights. These will be my first seedlings getting outside.
I did plant my sprouted peas with radish seed in the pea bed about a week ago when we thought it would be warming. They have been sleeping under cover. I also started carrots and beets with more radishes under cover in the squash bed. I don’t think any have started germinating, but now with new warmth, I am hoping to see the veg garden sprouting soon.
And look who turned up. This young, male wild turkey wandered onto our side of the road and walked along our fence. I suspect he was looking for new territory to breed and have his own harem. When we put up our fence, we unknowingly cut off the wild turkey run, that ran from the wild area behind us, through our yard and across the street to the dense woodland. They have been gone from our side of the road for 10 years now. So you can understand my excitement in seeing this young male.
And look…..look who he brought with him about a week later. They are now living in our wild area. I hope to see baby turkeys in a few months. This sight brought so much hope to my life as a lesson in never saying never.
So with this sign of spring hopefulness, I leave you with a few words of wisdom this unusual spring has brought me. That letting go can bring us such freedom and space for growth. It can allow you to see amazing beauty and hope, and can restore your faith in your little corner of the world.
This bouquet and the one near the top of the post, are the front and back of a beautiful bunch of flowers given to me by my husband’s cousin when he stopped by for lunch early in the month. They have brought me beauty, hope and faith for weeks as I await the return of spring.
What have you learned this spring? What have you accepted or let go of in this unusual early spring?
Barely Spring Vase
One thing I know about my garden is its resilience and desire to bloom. So through all the cold and snow, the Iris reticulata (pictured at the top of the post) have popped up and stuck around. I cut a few for a small vase to welcome in the season today.
There are 3 varieties of Iris reticulata here, but I have lost the tags, although the light blue one you might recognize as ‘Katherine Hodgkin‘.
This vase was placed on an altar of sorts dedicated to friends. The framed quote I love about friends can be read in the first picture.
I am joining Cathy@Rambling in the Garden for her wonderful In A Vase on Monday meme. The pictures shared here were created with my iPod Touch camera and two free apps, Pixlr and Prisma.
I am posting poetry, almost weekly on Sundays, on my other blog, Living From Happiness. You can read my latest poem here.
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